A try with the final play of the game gave the Banbury Bulls just their second win of the league season as they came from behind to defeat Nuneaton Old Edwardians by 37 points to 32 at Bodicote Park on Saturday.

Playing into the blustery conditions in the first half the game started badly for the Bulls as they were soon put on the back foot by a visiting side that were intent on playing quick rugby and often they caught the Bulls defence off guard.

It was from a movement where Nuneaton moved the ball quickly through several phases of play that the first try of the game came as they moved the ball continually to the right hand side and eventually right wing Carl Hutchings was able to step to the outside of his opposite number to score in the corner.

Using the wind advantage from the kick off Nuneaton pegged Banbury deep in their half and with the home side keeping the ball in hand the visitors were soon awarded a penalty. Instead of taking a shot at goal Nuneaton took a quick tap penalty and moved the ball left to wing Sven Brown whose superb footwork saw him wrong foot two would be tacklers and canter in to score near the posts. The successful conversion attempt by scrum half Tom Short stretched Nuneaton’s early lead to 12 points.

Midway through the half the Bulls started to gain some momentum through their forwards keeping the ball tight into the wind and rumbling up field. A penalty awarded on the twenty two would normally be a regulation shot at goal for Bulls fly half Mike Smith but into the strong blustery conditions it was by far no easy feat. He struck it well enough to creep over the cross bar having initially looked like it was going to sail between the uprights before the wind took in back towards the field of play. However at 12-3 the Bulls were on the board.

From the kick off Nuneaton went on the attack, but a speculative chip kick failed to get over Bulls captain Simon Brand who plucked the ball out of the air, fended off two defenders before off loading the ball to centre Peter Papenfus who raced through a gap from 35 metres out to score under the posts. Smith added the conversion to bring the Bulls to within 2 points.

Nuneaton, sensing their small two point lead was not going to be enough turning to play into the wind in the second half attacked with venom and with a numerical advantage on the left Brown once again raced towards the line, this time the cover defence got to him just 5 metres out but a speculative overhead pass found the hands of back row team mate Phil Dickson who ran in to score. Short added the extras and then right on half time he slotted a penalty goal to give his side a 12 point lead at the break.

For the Bulls the second half was always going to be about using the wind and gaining a territorial advantage from which to launch sustained attacks on the Nuneaton line and within 10 minutes they reduced the deficit with a try to fullback Peter Flemming. The forwards did a lot of the hard work driving the ball deep into the opposition twenty two before the ball was released to the backs where fly half Mike Smith sent a miss pass out wide and into the hands of Flemming who ran in untouched to score. Smith added the extra two points and the gap was now just five.
From the kick off the visitors struck back, gaining the ball from the kick off they like the Bulls kept the ball in close using their forwards to drive the ball close in before it was sent into the back line for centre Ricky Hyslop to cut back against the run of play to beat a couple of weak tackles to score.

Territory was still the main focus for the Bulls and they were rewarded with two penalties one after the other and with the wind behind him and the help of both uprights Smith converted both attempts to bring the Bulls back into contention at 27 points to 23.

Once again the Bulls inability to hold on to the ball from the kick off and kick for territory allowed the visitors to go straight back on to the attack and drive to within five metres of the Bulls line. Some resolute defence kept them out for up to 10 phases of play but eventually they managed to get the ball over the line as centre Jody Peacock stretched out in the tackle to ground the ball on the line. With 10 minutes to go and a nine point lead the visitors were looking the more likely winners.

However a steal at the lineout by Brand just twenty metres from the try line saw the Bulls go on the attack and with a controlled driving maul they marched towards the try line. As the maul started to splinter a small group drove again and crossed the line for prop Andy Gilbert to come up with the try. Smith added the extra points and with 6 minutes on the clock and only two points behind the game was there for the taking.

Nuneaton were hanging on by the skin of their teeth and decided that with possession in their favour they would gradually run the clock down by using their forwards to pick and drive. However a Bulls side determined to have at least one more go at the opposition were able to upset a Nuneaton drive and the ball spilled out of a ruck for wing Dave Taylor to scoop up on the half way line. An interchange of passes was eventually finished off with captain Brand fending off the last defender before diving in to score under the posts. Smith added the extra two points with his seventh successful kick at goal from nine attempts and that signalled the end of the game.

Bulls coach Grant Holmes was delighted with his side’s performance having been behind for the entire game until that final try in the dying seconds.

“It is a huge relief to finally get another victory under our belts having gone three and half months and 10 games without one.”

“After the disappointment of last weekends bottom of the table clash it was going to be interesting to see how our players reacted and to be honest I couldn’t have asked for much more. There was plenty of passion and commitment from the team and overall I feel we thoroughly deserved the win even though they outscored us by 5 tries to 4.”

“Prior to the game we had a real struggle to get a side together, last weekend we picked up another four injuries to go with the numerous one’s that already exist but on paper the side we mustered together had plenty of experience. It certainly wasn’t ideal going into the match with three players who haven’t played first team for two months or more but everyone put in a good shift and gave their all.”

“At no stage during the game did we start to panic, particularly early on when they took a 12 point lead and things looked a bit grim, but we stuck to the task got through the 40 minutes into a strong wind and turned around 12 points down and confident that we could reel the deficit in if we played to the conditions. Unfortunately on two occasions having just put points on the board we were unable to maintain possession from the restart and we handed them the opportunity to attack and to their credit they took both chances very well.”

“I am hoping that this win will give us a real lift and we can go into next weekend’s game with an air of confidence. We are a very long way from getting ourselves into a position where we can fight to survive but there are a number of games remaining that I believe we have a real chance at taking out and you never know what might happen. It is a long shot but long shots do sometimes come in and we will keep battling away right to the end of the season.”